1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates generally to a continuous analysis word counter. More specifically, the device disclosed herein relates to a device that may receive audio input representative of one or more spoken words, analyze the audio input continuously, and determine a number of words spoken by a user over a period of time.
2. Description of the Related Art
Word count is at least one metric used to quantify levels of human interaction. In one example, word processing programs use word count to assess an approximate length of a document. Some courts in the United States, for example, limit the number of words that may be submitted in a pleading. Written word counts are relatively simple to ascertain. For example, a word processing program may identify a word by determining whether or not an alphanumeric character appears between two grammatical spaces. Alternatively, because written words are fixed on paper or an electronic display, a word count may be ascertained by simple counting.
Spoken word counts, however, are more difficult to ascertain than written word counts. Nonetheless, a word count for spoken words is a useful metric for ascertaining human interaction in a number of circumstances. For example, public speakers may use a word count to assess effectiveness in addressing a crowd. In another example, recent research has shown a correlation between brain development in young children and the degree of interaction they have with parents and others. Specifically, a high degree of correlation exists between the quantity of words spoken to children younger than four years old and brain development in children younger than four years old. Simply put, the number of words spoken to a child between birth and age four largely sets the child's mental ability trajectory for the child's lifetime. Given the importance many caregivers place on a child's success in life, and the correlation between the quantity of words spoken to a child and brain development, it is desirable to track the number of words spoken to a child, for example, over a substantial period of time, even years. Conventional technology, however, has failed to provide adequate ability to accurately count and track a number of spoken words.
For example, conventionally, spoken word counts have been ascertained by recording and subsequently transcribing speech for manual counting. While this technology is fairly accurate in determining a spoken word count, this method of manually obtaining a count is profoundly inefficient in terms of effort and time effectiveness. Alternatively, an observer may manually count words as the words are spoken. However, manually counting words as they are spoken is prone to error and can be quite expensive in terms of paying the observer to manually count words. Accordingly, accurately tracking a number of words spoken over time has heretofore been profoundly difficult, expensive, and time consuming, if possible at all.
Accordingly, it is one object of this disclosure to provide an apparatus to count the number of words spoken by a user. Another object of this disclosure is to provide an apparatus that continuously counts the number of words spoken by a user in real time. A further object of this disclosure is to provide alternative low-power options for counting words in a mobile device with a reasonable degree of accuracy.